Generic font families are used as a backup for the main families, in case if the letter fails being rendered. They are predicted to keep some characteristics of the main font families declared inside a style sheet.

Generic font families

There are five generic font families commonly used in typography. These are:

serif;

sans-serif;

cursive;

fantasy;

monospace.

serif

The serif fonts tend to have finishing strokes, flared or tapering ends or have serifed endings. They are usually proportionally spaced and have greater variation between thick and thin strokes.

cursive

The cursive fonts generally have joining strokes or other cursive characteristics beyond those of italic typefaces. The glyphs might be partially or completely connected and they look like handwritten pen or brush.